Early News From the Kendal Mountain Festival

Dates for this years Kendal Mountain Festival are 14-17 November and some tickets are now on sale at mountainfest.co.uk

Confirmed speakers for this year include Spanish adventurer Silvia Vidal whose speciality is making ground-up first ascents of remote big walls, climbed solo and without any phone, radio or any means of contact. As you'd expect, this results in some fairly harrowing epics.

Speaking of epics, James McHaffie is no stranger to character-building experiences and he'll be on stage for the inaugural Arc'teryx Session along with top boulderer and Great Britain Bouldering Team member Mina Leslie-Wujastyk.

Mina Leslie-Wujastyk. will be appearing in a double bill with James McHaffie.

Man of the moment Kenton Cool will tell the inside story of his and Sherpa Dorje Gylgen's ascent of the 'three hills' (as Kenton puts it) summiting the three mountains of the Everest horseshoe - Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse - in one push, completing the ultimate Three Peaks challenge. And Marmot Night features top British climber Lucy Creamer in a special event that involves free beer and food – tickets may move quickly on this one.

All five Specialist Sessions – Endurance, Free Flight, Bike, Snowsports and Wild Water – look very exciting, with The North Face already confirming that ultra-runner Jez Bragg and at least one more star will feature in the Endurance Session. Plus this year there's a new Underground Session; calling all cavers...

Finally for now, there are two big film premieres confirmed – the Hotaches Productions film Distilled (which, we are reliably informed, involves Andy Cave and whisky), and Alastair Lee's much-anticipated film The Great Last Climb. Which undoubtedly involves whisky too.

Together with the art exhibitions, literature, the RAB Party plus the Boardman Tasker literary prize, it promises to be another unmissable year. The organisers say that there are plenty of surprises they can't tell us about yet, so watch this space!

We will have more news for you shortly.

Dates for this years Kendal Mountain Festival are 14-17 November and some tickets are now on sale at mountainfest.co.uk

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